A need remains for an improved bonding garment, which resembles a known garment and permits the wearer an easy means to expose skin for skin-to-skin contact, also known as kangaroo care, with an infant child and to enclose the child in the opening for comfort, warmth and to re-establish the appearance of the garment while bonding.
Numerous garments have been proposed for use by nursing mothers to permit access to the mother's breast. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,810,171 to Moore. Such garments do not provide an opening having sufficient access to the wearer's chest to facilitate the placement of a child in skin-to-skin contact with the wearer. Additionally, such garments are of no use to male caregivers.
Prior garments that increase the area of access fail to maintain the appearance of known garments and fail to maintain the privacy of the wearer, while permitting the operability of the garment. For example, the garment of U.S. Pat. No. 9,402,430 to Jensen comprises separate lateral front portions, requiring the user to fully expose their chest in order to provide access to their chest for skin-to-skin child contact. Jensen further requires the inclusion of an internal pocket, which, in combination with the remaining structure of the garment, prevents the garment from appearing as a typical article of fashion when not in use for kangaroo child care. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,725 to Shatzkin fails to provide means for maintaining the upright positioning of the claimed shirt or blouse's upper front for permitting the public use of the garment without revealing the wearer's chest to others.
A clear need therefore remains for a bonding garment, which resembles a known garment and permits the wearer an easy means to expose skin for skin-to-skin contact with an infant child and to enclose the child in the opening for comfort, warmth and to re-establish the appearance of the garment while bonding, while also maintaining the privacy of the wearer.